Mark sat opposite to the village Chief, he was drinking tea.
"Mark, I've been thinking... our village has been at peace for too long. It's time for expansion, for growth. And I need your help" the old man said.
"You are the village Chief, Do you expect me to agree to that ridiculous idea?" mark asked:
"You guys are doing just fine here" he added.
"Fine, but not great. We can be greater. I've heard that the Third Level Village is ripe, ready to be taken over. Their leader is sick, and their people are divided. With your and Zico's strength and my strategies, we can take it over and bring its resources under our control" the chief said.
Mark put his cup down and said:
"I'm not interested in conquering other villages, I'll just progress whenever I want without slaughtering people unnecessarily" Mark voiced his opinion and got up.
The village Chief stayed persistent.
"Ah, but that's exactly why you're the perfect person for this task. You're not motivated by personal gain or power. You're a true warrior, Mark. And I need someone I can trust to get the job done" he tried to convince mark.
Mark heard this and stopped, after a few seconds of silence he muttered:
"Trust, Are you stupid? It hasn't even been a complete day since our first meeting". He continued:
"I'm not going to help you start a war, Chief. my bones are too broken" Mark said firmly.
"Mark, listen to me. The Third Level Village is a threat to our peaceful living. If we don't take them over, they'll eventually come for us. And when they do, we'll be unprepared and vulnerable. By taking the initiative, we're ensuring our own survival." The chief said leaning in.
"Even if I understood your reasoning, which I don't, I still wouldn't join you. Find someone else to do your dirty work" Mark left the room.
"hmmm" the village Chief hummed and then took a long sip of tea from his cup.
When mark was walking out he saw someone run passed him and entered the room, he stopped walking and kept quiet.
"Elder! Two people, they've killed everyone" as soon as Mark heard everyone his rationality left him, he dashed off to the village entrance, when he arrived he saw to men beating up Zico and Emily. Seeing Emily in this sorry state made Mark boiled with anger.
The two men sensed mark's killing intent, they stopped hitting Zico and fighting beauty and both simultaneously walked towards Mark.
"Another one, This one seems to be a bit stronger than the Armorment kid" one of the men said.
"If you have that skill use it" Mark said:
'dad, I didn't want to hold a sold because you died not wanting to hold One, sorry I hate to hold one today. Hope you rest in peace' he thought.
Mark walked to a nearby sword and picked it up. Immediately he held the sword an immense amount of black Aura surrounded the village, the two men were able to see the aura and they were terrified, they couldn't stop shaking.
"Good bye" the sword broke into fragments, Mark's black Aura disappeared.
"Hahaha" as soon as they saw the aura dispate they began laughing.
"You thought that was gonna scare us?" One of the men asked.
In the blink of an eye, Mark appeared before Emily like a guardian angel. light flashed, casting a blinding glow on the two men opposite them. They crumpled to the ground like the last leaves of a tree, their lives had been extinguished in an instant. The silence that followed was a heavy, followed by the soft trickle of blood pooling around their bodies.
"Since I've used the sword, I'll use it for my freedom and I'll end this Sword bonding charade" he uttered, minutes later a sword appeared in his hands then he dropped it.
He stared at Emily, who was Still confused about the situation, he stooped to her level, Mark's ordinary arms held Emily, lifting her effortlessly into his embrace. Emily's face flamed with a deep blush, not wanting mark to see she buried herself in the warmth of Mark's chest, her fingers clutching his back tightly. Over her head, Mark's gaze met Zico's, and he spoke in a low, even tone:
"We're even now." With that, he carried fighting beauty towards the quarters assigned to her by the Village Chief.
Two days had passed, Zico was seated beside Mark on top of the village Chiefs hat.
"You should have used your, sword skill the last time we fought" Zico broke the silence.
"What sword skill are you talking about? I don't even know how to use that, but thanks for protecting her" Mark sincerely said with a smile.
"Are you going to help us take over the third level village?" Zico inquired.
Mark stood up from his knees and jumped from the roof top to the ground with a strong, graceful movement, he landed on the ground swiftly then He shouted:
"Of course!"
Zico smiled and looked to the sky. In the hat the village Chief was excited, he could improve the lives of the people who decided to follow him.
'With him, we might even leave the sword domain' he thought to himself with a smile.
Mark walked to his hat in silence, his footsteps quiet on the ground. As he walked, a thought resonated in his mind:
'So this is what it feels like to have a clear goal. I'll erase everything related to sword bonding' He felt his resolve grow as he vowed to himself:
'I'll just to take away the root cause, and no one will stand in my way.'
[ Somewhere near the village ]
"Brother, it's about time we heard to the third level, don't you think?" A short white haired girl asked In a soft tone sat on the ground next to a red hair man.
"Yeah, it's become bullying the weak now" he answered as an evil grin creeped to his face.
"But next time, don't make a mess, you're a level four fencer after all" she said then glanced over her shoulder, behind her was a trail of death, dead bodies lay on the ground and blood surrounded almost the whole place. The lifeless bodies of those who had fallen lay strewn across the ground, their faces frozen in agony, their limbs twisted in unnatural poses.
"I'll try not to do that" he said then got up from the ground.